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Chronicle of Julian Assange's battle against extradition

(Associated Press) | Updated May 20, 2017 - 7:03am

FILE - In this Tuesday Dec. 14, 2010 file photo, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange gives a thumbs up behind the heavily tinted window of a police van as he arrives at Wandsworth Prison in London. Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, has won his battle against extradition to Sweden, which wanted to question him about a rape allegation. He has spent nearly five years inside the Embassy of Ecuador in London to avoid being sent to Sweden, which announced Friday, May 19, 2017 that the investigation has been discontinued. (AP Photo/Akira Suemori, file)

LONDON — Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, has won his battle against extradition to Sweden, which wanted to question him about a rape allegation. He has spent nearly five years inside the Embassy of Ecuador in London to avoid being sent to Sweden, which announced Friday that the investigation has been discontinued.

Here are key events in the Assange saga:

2010

Aug. 20: Swedish prosecutor issues arrest warrant for Assange based on one woman's allegation of rape and another woman's allegation of molestation.

Aug. 21: Arrest warrant is withdrawn. Prosecutor Eva Finne says there appears to be insufficient evidence for allegation of rape.

Oct. 12: Metropolitan Police end their 24-hour guard outside the Ecuadorean embassy but say they will use overt and covert means to track and arrest Assange if he leaves. It ends a three-year police operation which is estimated to have cost more than 12 million pounds ($17 million).

2016

Feb. 5: Assange claims "total vindication" as the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention finds that he has been unlawfully detained and recommends he be immediately freed and given compensation. Britain and Sweden say the finding will have no impact on their policy. British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond calls the finding "frankly ridiculous."

2017

Jan. 19: Assange retreats from offer to accept extradition to the US if Chelsea Manning was granted clemency. His lawyers say Assange was really asking for a pardon for Manning.

April 6: Ecuador's president-elect, Lenin Moreno, warns Assange that as a condition of asylum granted in 2012, he is not allowed to meddle in politics. The rebuke followed Assange's Twitter blast at the losing candidate.

May 19: Prosecutor Marianne Ny announces that investigation has been suspended and the European arrest warrant has been withdrawn because she sees no realistic possibility of bringing Assange to Sweden. British police say he is still wanted for jumping bail in 2012.